New York’s Plants and Animals Respond to Change

New York’s climate is changing, transforming plant and animal life in our forests, creeks, and backyards.  In order to survive, plants and animals need to adapt to changes in rainfall, snowfall, temperature, and ice cover just as humans do.  A warmer climate brings challenges and opportunities.

Changing Forest Composition

Currently, forests in the Northeast US are made up of a variety of trees including maple, beech, birch, pine, oak, spruce, hickory, and more. But projections are that habitats ideal for spruce-fir and maple-beech-birch forests will decline, and those ideal for oak-dominated forests will expand. 

Though some species may be more productive due to an extended growing season and increased carbon dioxide, forests will be challenged by other factors:

Plants Thrive in Different Zones

Gardeners and farmers choose plants in part based on hardiness zones:  distinct climate regions where different plants thrive, based on the minimum winter temperature averaged over many years.  These zones are shifting north.  The U.S. plant hardiness zone map was revised in 2015 to reflect a warmer climate. Much of Tompkins County has shifted a half zone warmer (from Zone 5a in 1990 to Zone 5b in 2015).

Earlier Blooming

One of the indicators of a changing climate is change in the timing of when plants bloom in the spring.  For example, lilacs, grapes, and apples in the Northeast are blooming on average four, six, and nine days earlier in the 2000s than they did in the 1960s.

Changing Animal Populations

Blacklegged ticks—also called deer ticks—are carriers of Lyme disease and are becoming more abundant as New York’s climate warms.  These ticks are spread by white-tailed deer and white-footed mice. With fewer days of snow cover than in the past, more vegetation is exposed, making it easier for deer and mice to find food and survive the winter.  And warmer winters means more days when ticks can be active.

Changing migration patterns

Birds such as wood ducks and teal need open water and food to survive the winter.  As our climate warms they will not need to migrate as far south as they used to in order to find suitable winter habitat.  Migration patterns and timing for some birds are shifting, and we’re likely to see changes for wood ducks as well.

Aggressive Plants

Invasive plants are plants that spread outside of their native habitat, and they can disturb ecosystems, sometimes entirely crowding out various native species.  This loss of biodiversity can harm animals and disrupt the food chain.

You can see the multiflora rose growing on the grounds of the Cayuga Nature Center.

Kudzu: “the vine that ate the south”

Kudzu is a highly invasive, rapidly growing weed that has devastated plants in the southeastern U.S. It grows well in climates with mild winters and hot, sunny summers.  As of 2014, it had reached New York State. As New York State’s climate warms we may face infestations of this and other non-native plants.

It’s all connected

Changes to one plant or animal can create a ripple effect, altering the region as we know it.

For example, the hemlock wooly adelgid—an invasive insect—has been thriving in southern and central New York State due to warmer winters. These insects tend to destroy hemlock trees as they search for sap to eat. In the past, hemlock trees shaded local streams, keeping them cool. But as trees disappear the streams warm, stressing New York’s state fish, the brook trout, which needs cool streams to survive. 

Changes in brook trout, hemlock, and hemlock wooly adelgid populations are connected to each other and to climate change.